Who we are
Our website address is: https://housemusic.us/
Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Media
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
Cookies
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles and posts on this website may include embedded elements such as videos, social media content, images, and more. When such embedded content is included, it behaves identically to if you had directly visited the hosting platform. These third-party sites may collect data about you, utilize cookies, embed tracking technologies, and monitor your interactions with that content — especially if you are logged in to their platform during your visit.
This includes, but is not limited to, content from platforms such as YouTube, SoundCloud, Spotify, and Instagram. We do not control or assume liability for how these platforms handle your data. We recommend you review their individual privacy policies if you have concerns.
How long we retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
What rights you have over your data
If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
Where your data is sent
To maintain the integrity, security, and performance of our website, we use automated tools that help detect and filter out suspicious or potentially harmful activity. These systems may evaluate technical data such as IP addresses, browser configurations, interaction patterns, and other metadata to identify behaviors commonly associated with spam, fraud, or misuse.
This automated moderation helps us proactively prevent malicious actions, protect user data, and ensure that all website functionality operates as intended. In some cases, this process may involve passing data to trusted third-party services that specialize in identifying and blocking abuse. These services operate in accordance with their own privacy and data protection policies. By using our site, users acknowledge and consent to this type of automated analysis as part of our broader security and quality assurance practices.
Analytics Tools
To better understand how visitors engage with the various components of our website and to continuously improve both the functionality and overall user experience of the site, we make use of multiple third-party web analytics tools, which may include, but are not limited to, Google Analytics, Meta Pixel (Facebook), and other similar performance monitoring platforms.
These services operate by utilizing a combination of cookies, pixel tags, and other tracking technologies that allow them to collect data such as, but not limited to, your anonymized IP address, browser version and type, device type and specifications, operating system, screen resolution, referring URLs, pages visited while on our site, time spent on individual pages, the geographic location associated with your browsing activity (typically inferred from your IP address), click paths, scrolling behavior, outbound link clicks, and engagement with embedded media or interactive elements.
These analytics tools may share this data with their respective parent companies or affiliated entities and use the data in aggregate to provide us with visual dashboards, detailed reports, traffic trends, and audience insights which we use internally to identify popular content, navigation bottlenecks, loading issues, and broader user behavior patterns. We do not use these analytics tools to individually identify users unless explicitly stated otherwise, and any data used for analytical purposes is handled in accordance with the privacy policies and data handling procedures of the respective analytics provider.
Email Newsletter
By voluntarily providing your email address or associated platform handle (such as your Telegram or Instagram username) to sign up for our newsletter, mailing list, or other digital community channels such as Instagram Broadcast Channels, Telegram groups, or Discord servers linked via our website, you consent to receive curated digital communications from housemusic.us and its authorized team members.
These communications may include, but are not limited to, editorial content, music recommendations, community highlights, site updates, digital event invites, limited giveaways, partnership announcements, platform upgrades, artist features, and exclusive behind-the-scenes commentary. We respect your inbox and strive to deliver only relevant, engaging content; however, frequency of communication may vary depending on site activity, calendar of events, and ongoing projects.
All email communications are managed through reputable third-party email delivery and marketing platforms which comply with current international data protection regulations such as GDPR and CAN-SPAM. These platforms may track open rates, link clicks, delivery metrics, and subscriber activity to help us optimize our messaging strategies.
At no point will we sell, lease, license, rent, trade, or disclose your email address or messaging handle to unaffiliated third parties for marketing or commercial exploitation. Every email we send contains a clearly marked unsubscribe option and preference center link allowing you to withdraw consent, opt out of future communications, or update your preferences at any time.
Third-Party Integrations
Our website may contain content originating from external services or platforms beyond our immediate control, including, but not limited to, embedded widgets, playable media, social sharing components, and other dynamic content integrations provided by platforms such as YouTube, Spotify, SoundCloud, Mixcloud, Bandcamp, Apple Music, Instagram, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter).
These third-party platforms may, in accordance with their own data policies and technical frameworks, collect usage data and behavioral signals directly through these embedded elements when rendered on our site. Examples of such data collection include video play counts, interaction with playback controls, likes, shares, follows, subscription metrics, and other digital engagement actions.
Depending on your own cookie settings or login status with those platforms, this data may be linked to your personal user profile, tracked via cookies or pixels, and further processed for advertising, algorithm training, or audience segmentation. These activities fall under the scope of the respective platform’s privacy practices and terms of service, which you are encouraged to review if you interact with embedded content while logged in to those services.
We disclaim responsibility for any third-party data collection that occurs within these embedded environments, even when accessed through our domain.
Data Security
We are deeply committed to the safeguarding of your personal data and employ a layered approach to digital security across our infrastructure. This includes but is not limited to secure SSL encryption across all site pages, regular system and plugin updates to mitigate vulnerabilities, rate limiting and bot filtering on admin login routes, password hashing for stored credentials, access role management for backend users, and data breach monitoring via third-party services.
All data entered via comments, signups, or user account creation is stored securely using trusted hosting providers with strong compliance reputations and data retention policies. Access to user data is strictly limited to essential personnel who have signed confidentiality agreements and are trained in basic data protection protocols.
We do not use personal data for profiling or automated decision-making processes, nor do we transmit personal data outside the jurisdictions required for site operation and analytics.
Copyright and Embedded Social Media Content
Some of the content featured on our site may include embedded YouTube Shorts or other videos hosted on third-party platforms. These videos remain the property of their respective creators and are embedded in accordance with YouTube’s Terms of Service.
We do not claim ownership of any embedded third-party content. If you are a copyright holder and believe your content has been embedded inappropriately or without proper attribution, please reach out, and we will promptly address the issue.
Extended Policy on User Rights, Data Access & Deletion
In compliance with international privacy regulations such as the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and any applicable local equivalents, all individuals who have submitted data through forms, signed up for our newsletter, or interacted with our site (such as by leaving comments or participating in community channels) have the right to access, modify, download, or request deletion of their stored personal information.
Requests for data access, data erasure, or correction can be submitted through our contact form or by emailing our data protection team (email address available on request). We may request verification of identity before processing any personal data-related requests, especially if the nature of the data involves community interactions or historical submissions.
Please note that requesting deletion of personal data may result in the loss of any associated engagement history, such as comment threads or mailing list preferences. In certain cases, technical or legal obligations may require us to retain specific data for a limited period to fulfill operational, security, or regulatory compliance requirements.